Remember Me?
by Glamagirl
Summary: Ted had a chance to teach Maryse a lesson in being humble, would he pass it off and do the right thing or would he go for it?
1. Chapter 1

Okay, I know I shouldn't be starting anything new, but I was watching the movie Overboard and it kind of inspired me to write this. It's totally random and reality inaccurate, but I still decided to give it a try.

Also, here Maryse is still in the WWE and she is still working as Ted's in ring valet.

**Remember Me?**

Running the ball of her forefinger through the smooth surface of the stone and marble bathtub that rose in the middle of her Presidential Suite's luxurious bathroom, Maryse Ouellet closed her eyes in relaxation and breathed out until she found the object she has been blindly looking for with her hand.

Once it was securely in her hold she lifted it, brought it to her lips and took a sip of it. Without looking at it, the platinum blonde could imagine it in her eyes, the deep crimson colored liquid nearing her lips and sliding right through them to fill her mouth with its dark and mysterious flavor.

It was actually a really good wine like it said on the cart, not that she would settle for less, and she was glad that she decided to order a whole bottle with her room service dinner.

Taking another sip and swallowing it down, she put the glass back to where it has been, her ears picking up the distinct sound of her phone ringing in the distance.

"Hmmm, I don't want to get out of here." She mumbled under her breath to no one in particular as she opened one eye first and then the other.

But then, as if answering her complain, the phone rang once again and Maryse grunted, getting up to her feet and stepping out of the tub while dripping wet.

She did this with all the calm in the world, her warm hazel eyes searching through the room for a towel and then walking to it when she found it. Once it was wrapped around her frame, the blonde finally stepped out of the bathroom and headed towards the room to attend the phone call.

The iPhone was ringing alright, it hadn't stopped ringing since she was back at the tub and now that she was next to it was still going strong, the person at the other line obviously being way too insistent and a pain in her behind.

Rolling her eyes and blowing out a breath, Maryse picked it up and answered in her native language. "Allô,"

"Maryse, where are you?"

Recognizing the voice as that of her road agent, the blonde beauty rolled her eyes and blew out a breath. "I'm already on my way, I just found a little traffic in the highway." She said petulantly, walking across the room until she was standing in front of one of her Louis Vuitton rolling cases.

"Well try to hurry up, the signing starts in half an hour and we don't want to start late; you know we are already running in a tight schedule."

Without bothering to say something to that and without any kind of remorse whatsoever, Maryse hung up the phone and threw it over the bed.

So yeah, she lied to the road agent but who cared? It wasn't like she wanted to do a stupid signing at K-Mart; just to imagine the type of people that would attend that place made her cringe.

Besides being late wasn't such a bad thing, she wanted to get off her WWE contract and maybe, just maybe if she started to either skip or arrive late to all her appearances, they would get the hint and finally grant her what she has been asking for the last couple of months.

A release.

With that in mind and hoping this would be the last straw, the Diva picked up the clothes she was going to wear and started to put them on. She did that relatively quick, but then it was time to do her make-up and she knew for sure that she was going to take longer than half an hour. And that was without mentioning that then she had to walk out and drive to one of the tackiest places on Earth, a K-Mart in Mississippi!

"Ewww, I can't wait to get there late."

After saying that, she went on to do her make-up and amidst her meticulous work, she laughed. She was sure that her days in the WWE were numbered and she loved it…

XxXxXxXxX

Tapping his lean long fingers to the table placed right in front of him, Ted Dibiase Jr forced out a smile as yet another fan took a picture of him.

"Thank you for coming, sweetheart." He said in his raspy southern drawl once the picture was taken, and when the girl answered back with an 'Oh My God I love you', he snorted and shook his head in amusement.

Now usually, Ted was more forward with the fans because he loved interacting with them, but that night he just wasn't feeling it.

It was stupid and he knew it, but he had a lot of things going through his mind that was making him hold back; besides he couldn't deny that it bothered him that of all the signings they had scheduled, Maryse choose to skip the one taking place in his hometown.

He didn't know nor he cared what was going on with the woman, all he knew was that it was not the first time she did something like that and this time it bothered him.

Signing a magazine for the next fan and smiling for yet another picture, Ted saw a little girl approaching with her dad and smiled. "Hey, how are you?" He asked looking at the small blonde.

"I'm fine. Where's Maryse, I wanted her to sign my book and take a picture with her."

Quirking his lips and holding back from telling her that Maryse was an irresponsible, conceited woman that didn't care that one of the few fans she had left just made a long ass line only to find out that she wasn't there, Ted blew out a breath and leaned forward.

"Well, Maryse just had a little inconvenience and she is going to arrive a little late." He said, taking a look at his wrist watch and noticing that the woman was already forty minutes late. "But I'll tell you what, I'm going to call her so you can talk to her, would you want that?"

Smiling from ear to ear, the girl nodded so Ted picked up his phone and started to dial her number. Now, he knew that Maryse was going to auto combust in anger, but he didn't care.

"What is it now, I told you I was on my way."

At the sound of her voice, Ted took in a deep breath and blew it through his mouth. Yes, more than one hour before the road agent used his phone to ring Maryse and she said that she was stuck in traffic; Ted didn't believe that.

"Yeah, well you shouldn't bother to show up. I mean I bet you have better things to waste your time on than meeting this fine people. But anyway, I just called you because there's a lovely girl right here that is dying to meet you for some weird reason so we are calling you."

"Who is this?" Maryse asked from the other line and Ted snorted.

"Why, it's me, Ted Dibiase… you know, they guy you work with and the one with whom you were supposed to do this appearance."

"Oh, well I'm on my way so tell this girl to sit comfortably somewhere until I get there."

"No, no, no… you tell her that," He said and without waiting another second, he gave the phone to the girl.

Fortunately, Maryse didn't hang up on the girl and for at least almost a minute, the girl talked to her. But then she handed the phone back to Ted and said that Maryse wanted to talk to him.

"Yeah?" Ted said once the phone was back to his ear.

"I'm going to kill you for this, Ted. Don't you ever…"

"You know," He said interrupting her while running a hand down his face. Then he lowered his voice and making sure that the next approaching fan wouldn't hear him, he told kept talking. "I have things to do here and compromises to fulfill, so if you are not going to tell me that you already arrived and that you will apologize to these people, don't even bother."

With that said and mumbling under his breath a word that rhymed with witch, Ted hung up on her and continued doing what he had to do.

He was there for at least another hour, and like he already suspected, Maryse never showed up. Not that it mattered, not having her there was a blessing because he didn't want to listen to her complaining all through the signing.

Now Maryse, he couldn't say that he didn't stand the woman because in his always good nature he didn't have in him to despise anyone. But if there was someone that rubbed him the wrong way, it was her.

She was a stuck up, arrogant spoiled human being that only though about the things that could benefit her. He knew because for a few months they have been working side by side and in more than one occasion they had to travel together for interviews and other appearances.

Meaning that he had spent some time getting to know her.

And during all that time, he concluded that the woman was as ugly in the inside as she was pretty on the outside. It was a shame, really… and all he wanted now was for creative to break their story line so he could surround himself with more positive people.

But anyway, not wanting to waste another though on the woman, Ted made it to his house and as soon as he opened the door and stepped in, he groaned out loud.

"Oh great! Riggs, what did I tell you about pooping outside the training pad? Jesus… and what is that smell?"

Shaking his head, the third generation wrestler took off his soiled shoes and threw them in his front lawn. After that he turned on the lights and took a look into his house.

It was a mess, Riggs seemed to have forgotten his training and he was doings his things everywhere. He knew it was probably the new house, but as of late he didn't have the patience to start training the dog all over again.

And then it was this, since in this new house there was no wife to attend things, it was a bit hard to keep things under control. When he wasn't there was no one to walk Riggs, he was lucky his dad agreed to come every day to feed him but he didn't always took him out.

Apart from that, there was no one to cook or keep things tidy, there was no one to keep his laundry up to date and he has even late with some payments.

Yeah, he had the money to pay for everything, but with such a hectic schedule, he always kept forgetting about paying on time.

It was all his soon to be ex-wife's fault, if it wasn't because she left so soon after moving back to Mississippi, everything in his life would be perfect.

Well, everything but their rocky relationship.

So yeah, it didn't took him as a surprise when two weeks ago he came home to find her gone and nothing but a note saying that she left Riggs at his mom's and that she wanted to start the divorce proceedings as soon as possible. But in a way he was still bitter about it, he has been raised the southern way, believing that marriage was forever and yeah, that every house needed a woman to keeps things running smoothly.

Not that he was a chauvinist, but yeah… he missed his wife maintaining his house clean.

"Well, it seems like we need to find some help here, you bad boy." He said absentmindedly as Riggs came running to him. Crouching down, he petted his Lab and sighed. "So remind me first thing in the morning to call an agency that can come here to clean this mess."

Once he said that, his phone started to ring and straightening up, he took the smartphone off his pocket and picked it up.

"Hello,"

"Good after noon, may I know who am I speaking to?"

Quirking his lips and automatically thinking that a fan got hold of his phone number, Ted arched an eyebrow. "Who did you call?"

"I'm talking from the Saint Mary hospital, we have a woman here that suffered an accident and since this was the last number in her phone, we are trying to find a family member."

Having a bad feeling about it, Ted held the phone tighter and tensed his jaw. "Who is this person?"

She didn't have any kind of ID with her, but there's a credit card with the name Maryse Ouellet. Does the name sounds familiar?"

"Oh my God, yes… what happened? Is she okay?"

"She was in a car accident, it wasn't too grave so don't worry. The thing is that she hit her head hard and how she doesn't remember anything. She has post-traumatic amnesia."

Shaking his head, Ted snorted. "What?" Wasn't that the kind of things that happened only in movies?

"We are positive that this will be temporary. She just needs someone to help her remember things. So are you related to her, sir?"

Blinking slowly and taking a look around his messy house, Ted's mind started to run a thousand miles per second.

No… he couldn't do it, it was wrong! But then again, this amnesia thing was temporary and he only needed her for a day or two, just the time necessary for her to clean things for him. It would be a help for her too, he could keep her until he managed to contact her family and let's face it, if he said that he wasn't related to her they wouldn't let him take her out of the hospital…

And really, taking her into his place would be like a lesson in humbleness… it wasn't like he wanted to try something funny.

Clearing his throat and looking up to his ceiling, Ted closed his eyes and silently asked God for forgiveness. "Yes, yes… we, umm she's my wife…"

TBC?


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews guys, I really appreciate them. Anyway, this is kind of a fill in for the following chapters, enjoy

**Chapter 2**

Ted was still amazed at how it easy it has been for him to blatantly lie and convince Maryse's doctor that he was her loving husband.

In fact… he didn't have to put much effort to it; he just walked into the hospital, said that he was looking for his wife that just had an accident and when the Doctor went to talk to him he just acted worried but relieved at the same time that Maryse was alright, even if she was temporarily sans memory.

That first meeting with the medical personnel went smoothly, they told him everything there was to know about her condition and he was even allowed to see her. Now, all that has been the previous day but he remembered as if was happening right in that moment how he had walked into her room feeling almost positive that she was going to get her memory back as soon as she saw him and yeah, he had to admit that he has been a bit afraid that his charade would crumble before it even begun and that he would be exposed as a fraud.

But instead of recognizing him, Maryse just stared at him with a mix of curiosity and disdain and then announced that she was tired and that she wanted to sleep.

Shaking his head and thinking that the blow to the head didn't improve her ways much, Ted reluctantly went to her, kissed her forehead to show the Doctor that he was 'madly in love' with that woman no matter what and promised that he was going to bring her a few things to help her remember.

The doctor told him that bringing things and talking to her would help because if she continued to be stable, they were going to release her out of the hospital after the first twenty-four hours of observation culminated.

After telling him that, a nurse gave him the things Maryse had with her at the moment of the accident, which was a handbag with her phone, a wallet, some make-up, a small bottle of perfume and a hotel card key.

Now, after leaving the hospital, Ted went home and during the whole night he just sat with Riggs at his porch, wondering if maybe he wasn't stepping over the line with this. Surely Maryse had friends and family that would want to know about her whereabouts; or better yet, what about her job?

True, the woman didn't seem to have an interest in fulfilling her obligations but she still had them…

Thinking about that and running his hand lazily over his dog's head, Ted has heard Maryse's phone ringing and thinking that it could be someone of interest, he quickly took the phone to check it.

It hadn't been a call, just a text message and because the phone wasn't blocked, he got in and read it. Much to his surprise, what he read was this:

'Congratulations, your wish has been granted and as of now on you are no longer under contract with the WWE. We wish you luck in your future endeavors.'

Chuckling at the impersonality of that message, Ted has sat aghast, reading the words over and over again until their meaning started to sink in. Maryse had just been basically fired over a text message… thing that meant that if he decided to pull through with the whole thing, then he wouldn't have to worry about covering what he was doing at work…

But no, it was just wrong and he couldn't… she still had family…

Before he could convince himself to do the right thing, he used her phone, got into her twitter and wrote:

'Finally free, time to celebrate it big. Be sexy.'

After that he went to write another tweet. 'Mani, pedi time. Then mini vacations, don't call me, I'll call you.'

Then he turned off the phone, put it in his pocket and kept thinking…

That has been the night before, and now first thing in the morning of a new day he was back at the hospital with a fresh change of clothes he picked from her hotel room, a small bunch of photos of the two of them together, a few ones with her posing for the camera and that was it.

Sure, he had searched and meticulously chosen those photos all over the internet and revealed them in a local Walgreens in just one hour; but because his first meeting let him know that the Doctor was not a wrestling fan, he was sure that they would work.

Smiling and thinking that he has definitely lost his mind for keeping up with the madness of making her believe they were married, Ted walked across the nurses' station and made it to the room he knew Maryse to be in.

"Good morning." He said cheerfully as he set the things he brought over a chair. "How are you feeling today?"

Maryse was already awake, sitting crossed legged on her bed and staring blankly out the window; but as soon as she heard his voice she pursed her lips and tilted her head towards him.

The previous day she was been looking way too pale and kind of drowsy, but now she seemed more alert… more like herself. Yeah, it was a bit weird to see her face clean of any make-up but in all honestly it wasn't a bad look on her as it made her look more approachable.

Not replying to him, the French Canadian turned her head back to the window and shrugged.

"Okay, I guess you are kind of moody because you hate hospitals but that's alright, this same after noon I'll get to have you back home."

At those words, Maryse turned back to him and wrinkling her nose she arched an eyebrow. "I don't know you so I won't be going anywhere with you."

Faking a double take, Ted took the photos and walked to her. "Maryse, baby… of course you know me, you are my wife. Here, take a look at these."

Handing her the photos, Ted watched as Maryse started to pass them; studying them one by one. Sure, they were not many and most of them were taken by fans in autograph signings and other events; but the important thing was that the great majority had them standing close to one another and smiling.

He has been lucky to find more than ten of them outside the ring and yup, he even printed the one where they had to kiss for a show. Sure, he had to edit it a bit so that his Million Dollar Belt wouldn't be too visible and he was glad he did because Maryse took an interest in that particular photo.

"Why don't I have a ring? If we are married then where's my wedding ring?"

Not missing a beat, Ted pushed the inside of his cheek with his tongue and snorted. "You really don't remember?"

Shaking her head while still holding the photos in her hand, Maryse scanned his face over.

"Well it's getting fixed. Last week we went fishing and you got bored easily. You always do but you still come with me every time because it's a good excuse to get in a boat in the open sea and get a good tan. Anyway, after a while you convinced me to go swimming with you and you forgot to take the ring off and a diamond fell off…"

God… the lies that sprouted out of his mouth were unbelievable… he never knew he had such a talent for lying.

"And how could I forget to take off a diamond ring just to go swimming." She asked petulantly, tilting her face up and looking at him straight in the eye.

At that question he scratched behind his ear and shrugged. "Well… it was a thing of the moment and we just didn't have time to remember such trivial details… we were busy with other matters… if you know what I mean."

Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, Maryse grunted in a way that was very close to disgust. "And where are our wedding pictures?"

Jesus, why couldn't the woman just trust in his word?

Sighing loudly, Ted sat next to her and cleared his throat. "We married in Vegas so there was not much of a wedding. But here's a picture of you in our honeymoon." He said, taking the pictures and showing her one where she was smiling a big smile that reached all the way to her eyes while sitting on a beach.

He had printed that photo because he thought that she looked particularly pretty… not in the way that she was in a little bikini that left little to the imagination, but in a way that she looked happy and just comfortable with herself.

It was rare for him to see her smiling like that and he didn't know, he just liked the photo and printed it with the rest.

Maryse looked at it long and paused, and after a awhile she just looked up to him and blinked very slowly. "I don't remember any of this… or you."

Smiling, Ted lifted a hand and ran his fingers through her silky blonde hair. She let him do it, looking at him with all the intensity of her warm hazel eyes. That's how he knew he got her, because the Maryse he knew would have pushed his hand away while telling him not to touch her hair.

"It's okay, the doctors say that you will get your memory back at any given moment and chances of that happening will be higher once you are home, surrounded by the things you know and love."

Ah, that she was going to remember things was a fact, but Ted just hoped that he could have a few days… just enough for the woman to get the things in his house in order. Just the usual, laundry, dishes, Riggs' mess and of course, sort out his bills.

There was no doubt that she would probably try to kill him once she remembered everything, but that was okay by him. After all the only advantage he had planned to get out of her was in a domestic way.

Lowering her eyes from his, Maryse sighed and smiled weakly. "Then I hope that happens soon."

"Yeah, me too baby, me too…"

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

"This is it baby, home sweet home."

At the sound of that southern drawl filling the silence she had imposed upon them ever since walking out of the hospital earlier that day, the young blonde known as Maryse Ouellet pursed her lips in a petulant manner and took a good look at the place that was supposed to serve her as a home.

She did it through harsh critical eyes, halting on her tracks and standing under the door frame as Ted walked inside and put her things over a sofa.

"I know it's a bit messy but we'll work on that later, now we'll focus on getting you better."

Maryse didn't even bother to reply to him; she just kept inspecting the house, hoping that anything in there would help her get her memory back.

But nothing did, she didn't remember the place at all. Not that she was really expecting to do so; after all if she couldn't remember the man she married then why would she remember the house where they lived?

"It smells weird." She said at least, her tone coming off as bored and her arms automatically lifting up so she could fold them against her chest.

Ted laughed heartedly at her words, scratching behind his ear as his sparkling blue eyes looked straight into her hazel ones.

"Yes it does, I guess the Fabreze I got at the grocery store last night doesn't really work. Anyway, come in…"

With that said, Ted walked to her, placed a hand to her back and made her walk into the house. Once inside, he closed the door and gave Maryse time to adapt.

"I don't remember any of this." She said, looking away from Ted and scanning the place once again.

It was a nice house, not the kind of place she has been expecting but she guessed it was alright. The entrance door lead to a spacious living room equipped by a huge TV mounted on the wall, the leather sofa looked nice and expensive and the decoration was overall kind of appealing.

Sure, she has been expecting to live in the penthouse of a big fancy building in New York or LA that overlooked the city but what did she know; a big house in uptown Madison, Mississippi seemed to be all there was to it.

Wrinkling her nose in disdain, Maryse walked down the steps and made it to the sofa.

Yeah, Mississippi… it could be that she couldn't remember her life before the accident but she did remember things like cities, brands and good taste and Mississippi didn't seem like the kind of place she would willingly live at.

And married? Why on earth would she get married? Yeah, taking a good look at Ted she could see why she was with him; after all he looked more than good, so far he seemed like a nice guy and he had a smile that would make any women swoon at the sight of those pearl whites…

But marrying him and settling down in the middle of nowhere as an abnegated wife? No, as good looking as he was, that just didn't seem right…

Sure, that she recognized his nice attributes didn't mean that she felt like swooning at his feet, but she could see lesser women doing so. Not her of course; even without a memory she knew she wasn't the kind of woman who would act like that, even if she felt like it.

"Tell me, why I was out of town and when I had the-" Before she could finish her sentence, Maryse saw out of the corner of her eye that a huge beast was running towards them and she immediately retreated and opened her eyes as wide as she could. "What is that?"

She asked out of breath as she saw Ted bend down so the beast could run into his arms.

"Come here boy." The dark blond man said happily, and when 'his boy' reached him he placed a hand over its head and laughed. "Looks like mommy doesn't remember you either, why don't you go and say hi to her?"

Almost as if it understood Ted, the dog tilted its head to the side and stared intently at Maryse.

"I don't want that thing near me." The former WWE Diva hurried to say, her hands resting at the back of the leather sofa and her eyes refusing to move away from the big dog.

She didn't trust that thing and she was afraid that if she turned her back from it, it was going to attack her.

"Maryse, he is not a thing, this is Riggs, our dog."

"Why is he so big?" She asked, a hint of desperation in her voice. She didn't like dogs that big… she liked them miniature… "And why is he inside the house?" God, no wonder the funny smell that hit her nose first thing when she stepped in.

Amused at the woman's reaction but not wanting to tell her that Riggs had been a Christmas gift from his estranged wife, Ted snorted and got up to his feet. "Well I tried to find the pocket edition but they ran out of them at the pet shop."

Maryse said nothing, she just blinked her warm hazel eyes a couple of times as she stared intently at him.

"Okay that was a lame joke; this is a Labrador, they grow up this big."

"I don't think I like it." She said, straightening her posture and running a hand down her long platinum blonde hair. "Where is the bedroom? I have a headache and I want to lay down."

Pursing his lips and nodding, Ted patted his dog one last time and told him to stay there; after that he motioned Maryse to follow him and started to walk up a set of stairs.

Maryse followed him tentatively, watching where she was stepping because she didn't want to disgrace her shoes with a little gift from 'her' dog. Fortunately she didn't, as far as she could smell the dog never got upstairs and the real problem was in the living room and the kitchen.

Once inside the bedroom, Maryse forced her mind once again to recognize something; thing that she didn't. The king size bed was as alien to her eyes as the covers it had and as her eyes moved around, she realized that couldn't remember ever being in that room.

It was frustrating, ever since waking up in a hospital bed the previous day she has been forcing her mind to remember and as much as she tried to, it remained blank. She didn't remember Ted, the dog, the photos he showed her or the house; and when her husband put her iPhone in her hands, she couldn't decipher the code to unblock it.

Ted said he had no idea whatsoever on what her code was but he promised to take the phone to a friend at work that could unblock it for her.

Feeling more optimistic about it, she gave him the phone, hoping that if she was able to look at her messages and call a few of her contacts, her memory could start come back.

Until then she only had Ted to rely on…

"Do you want something to eat? I can order something if you like."

Taking in a deep breath and sitting over the bed, Maryse pouted her lips and shook her head no. She didn't look up to him, she just casted her head down and stared at her shoes. "I'm not hungry."

"Right. Well shout if you need anything okay?" Ted said kindly, biting lightly on his lips and watching Maryse from his spot by the door.

Right in that moment, as he observed Maryse looking so vulnerable and lost, he felt something very close to guilt eating his entrails and he almost confessed… almost.

But he was too deep into the lie to backtrack now so he remained silent. After all he signed in the hospital as her husband, he arranged the things she had in her suitcases conveniently in his room and bathroom so she could have a sense of familiarity and he even had a few back-up stories in case she asked about her family or about the fact that her side of the closet wasn't completely full of clothes and shoes.

Hell, he even marked up a picture of them together and put it over the nightstand so no, he needed to keep it up for a while now.

"I'll be downstairs," With that said, the WWE superstar closed the door and left her alone.

It all felt weird, his motives to do the whole thing seemed hollow and he even cleaned up a bit so the house wouldn't smell so bad when she woke up. He didn't put much effort into it, but at least the place didn't reek anymore.

After that he sat with Riggs on his porch, trying to figure out what he would do with Maryse the following day when he had to hit the road again; then when it was close to midnight and when Riggs dozed off, he went up to his room's bathroom to take a shower and lay down too.

Upon walking in, he saw that Maryse was already sleeping so he moved as silent as a shadow because he didn't want to wake her up; she looked peacefully in her sleep and he didn't want to disturb her.

He also noticed that she had changed into something he had put on a drawer with a few of her things, it was a short silky nightgown he found at the bottom of her Louis Vuitton suitcase and that she was wearing it only told him that she has been nosing in.

Yeah, he had expected that so he just snorted and shook his head.

Maryse… even though they had never been close, he was pretty much sure on how her mind worked and he just knew that she was going to make a registration of his room.

Taking in a deep breath, he walked to the bed and pulled the blanket up her body. He did it because her nightgown had ridden up her thighs and he wanted to give her some sort privacy.

It may be true that he was doing crazy things when it came to her, but he wasn't a pervert so yeah, he just pulled the blankets up to her chest and walked around so he could get to the other side of the bed.

Sure, out of respect what he should have done was go to the guess room and spend the night there; but what would that tell Maryse?

No, he wanted to make things as credible as possible while they lasted so he just climbed in bed and guarding as much distance as he could, he closed his eyes.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day and he needed all the rest he could get to survive it…


	4. Chapter 4

"Tell me one more time Ted because I still don't get it; why is it that we are in Maryse's apartment, going through her stuff and packing them?"

Rolling his clear blue eyes and throwing a pair of boots inside the suitcase that was sprawled open in the middle of his fake wife's spacious bedroom in Los Angeles, Ted Dibiase Jr, blew a breath out of his mouth and looked at his friend Cody.

He has told his former tag team partner numerous times about the reason why they were there, but apparently the younger of the two hadn't been paying attention in any of those times and he needed to be told again.

"Come on Cody, you have the attention span of a four year old little brat. What part of it didn't you understand?"

Snorting and walking to the bed so he could sit on it, the younger of the Runnels' clan grabbed a little article of clothing from the bed and held it at a distance so he could look at it with critical eye.

It was a red silky bra and as soon as Ted saw Cody's lips curving into a sly grin, he yanked it from the other man's hands and threw it into the suitcase as well.

"I don't know, I think I got lost in the part where Maryse asked you to do this for her. I mean I thought you couldn't stand the woman and now you are his personal slave, packing her stuff to send them to Hawaii. And why does she need boots in Hawaii for anyway?"

Arching an eyebrow and pushing the inside of his cheek with his tongue, Ted looked at Cody without blinking for a few seconds and then he cleared his throat.

"I'm not her personal slave; I'm just doing this as a favor. For the love of God the woman lost her job two weeks ago and it happened right in front of my eyes. They just fired her via a text message and I don't know, I felt sorry for her."

"And now she is in Hawaii, lying in the sand and tanning on a nice beach while you are here, doing things for her."

A hundred percent sure that if the blonde was laying anywhere it was on his sofa while watching the newest episode of Gossip Girl, Ted shrugged.

"You should have seen her man; she was a mess when she got that message. She was crying, her mascara was running down her face and I and I just…" Shrugging again, he looked up to the ceiling and breathed in.

God, when did it became so easy to lie for him? Since Maryse had her accident a good part of the words that spilled out of his mouth were pure lies and in a way he was amazed with the things he came up with.

"You can say that I felt sympathy for her and now I want to help her."

"Maryse crying? Somehow I find that very heart to believe. She's the impersonation of the Ice Queen herself and I'm sure that if a tear ever forms in her eye, it would freeze over before it slides down her cheek."

"Well she was crying that night, torrents."

"You are lying. Why are you lying to me?"

Snorting nervously at the possibility of being caught, Ted leered sideways and gulped. "Why would I lie about that?"

"I don't know, you tell me. But I know you are lying because every time you make something out, your ears turn red and dude, those huge things you call ears are burning red ever since we got here."

Biting his lips hard, Ted looked at Cody and then he shook his head. "Alright, I will tell you the truth but you have to promise that you won't say a word to anyone, anyone."

Looking as eager as a kid who has been promised a stack of candy, Cody lifted his right hand and nodded. "I promise so spit it."

"Okay. Well… Maryse got into an accident two weeks ago, it wasn't too bad, but apparently she hit her head pretty hard and as a result she lost her memory. I was the one the doctor called and for some reason that I still can't understand, I lied and said she was my wife. Everybody at the hospital believed it and now I have a Maryse with no memory and that think she's my wife in my home."

Looking at him through distrusting eyes, Cody arched an eyebrow and chuckled. "Come on man, you said you were going to tell me the truth."

Pursing his lips and shrugging, Ted blinked slowly. "I just did; that is the truth and the real reason why we are here is because Maryse made me spent more than two thousand dollars in clothes and shoes last week so I decided to take some of her own stuff back home so that her half empty side of the closet gets filled to the maximum."

Opening his mouth to laugh out loud, Cody threw some of the clothes that were laying on bed towards Ted and then he kept laughing.

He went at it for a while and feeling bitter about it, Ted threw the clothes away.

"You are fucking serious. Just what the hell were you thinking?"

"I don't know! I was mad at her for skipping our autograph singing and I think that in some weird kind of way I wanted to punish her. You know Kristen left and the house is a mess and I thought that for a few days I could keep her home and I don't know, make her clean the house, do my laundry and take care of Riggs."

At that, Cody laughed louder than ever and Ted sent him a piercing stare.

"And did it work? Is the house clean and your clothes washed and neatly folded in your drawers?"

"No." Ted said bitterly, his mind going over the fact that Maryse wasn't a good house wife. "I mean she has done stuff, but not exactly what I expected her to do."

So yeah, there was no doubt that Maryse was not Kristen and while the house was a hell of a lot cleaner than it has been before she arrived, there were things Ted wished she would do.

But she hadn't touched his bills, she messed up some of his white socks and shirts by throwing them in the washing machine with a red dress he was forced to buy for her and while clean, his clothes were all rumpled in a hamper in his laundry room and every time he needed something to wear, he had to go there to get it.

She also threw out most of the food in his fridge to buy things he didn't exactly liked, she hid the rug in his living room in the garage and what was worse, she lost Riggs.

Yeah he found him two days later in one of his neighbor's backyard but the fact remained that she lost him. It has been an accident and she looked kind of sorry, but he still remembered that day with a bit of ire in his heart.

Ah, and that was without mentioning the lies he had to make up to keep her curiosity satisfied. He lied about her phone, blocking it with a password he knew she wouldn't be able to decipher; he lied about her family and told her she didn't have any and he even made a huge intricate web of lies to explain to her the reason why most of her clothes were missing from her closet.

Sure, three days later he gave in and answered a call from her sister to tell her that Maryse was fine but unable to talk and every now and then he logged into her twitter to respond DM's and other things her friends would send her.

"Ted, did it ever occur to you that making Maryse do your chores was an impossible task? We all you know how she is and I don't think that losing her memory is going to improve her. I mean has she done anything at all other that emptying your wallet?"

"Well believe it or not she cooks better than Kristen, that's for sure. And while the house isn't exactly a hundred percent neat, I wouldn't say it's a complete disaster. "

"Alright, at least tell me you are nailing her; that's the only good thing that can come up out of this because let's face it, Maryse is damn hot."

Shaking his head and looking at Cody as if he was crazy, Ted snorted. "Of course not, what kind of pervert do you think I am?"

Gosh, in his mind trying to get lucky with Maryse was the lowest thing he could ever do and if he was sure about something, it was that he would never try anything funny with the French Canadian.

Yes, sharing a bed with her and watching her sleep in those little silk gowns that left nothing to his imagination was very appealing, but he would never cross the line with her like that.

Smirking, Cody grabbed a little blue thong and threw it in Ted's face. "Just imagine it, Maryse wearing nothing but those panties while waiting for her generous husband to get home."

"You are out of your mind."

"No more than you man, no more than you."

"Yeah well let's get this over with. I want to take the first flight home and hopefully, by the time I get there Maryse already got her memory back. She will probably try to kill me if she did, but between you and me, I'm praying for the day she remembers everything so she would leave…"

XxXxXxXxXxX

Brushing her long blonde hair and her eyes drinking on her reflection through the huge mirror hanging from the bathroom's wall, Maryse blinked her eyes slowly as her mind continued to run at increased speed over some matters.

Well, it was only one matter that was occupying her mind and that matter had a name, Ted Dibiase.

Over the last two weeks, she has been trying to decipher the weird relationship she seemed to have with him and after much thinking, she realized what was the problem with them.

Cheating…

Either she was cheating on him or he was cheating on her. Perhaps both of them had succumbed into the awful claws of infidelity and that was the reason why they fell apart.

Because yeah, even with no memory she could tell they had fallen apart. It was obvious, they slept on the same bed they never touched each other, the most intimate contact she could remember them sharing was him kissing her forehead and quite honestly, she couldn't feel any kind of chemistry between them.

Yeah they talked and stuff, but every word shared felt forced and after spending days away doing his job, he seemed more excited to see Riggs when he got back home than he was to see her.

Arching an eyebrow, Maryse put the hairbrush down, still thinking.

Yeah, he was the one who was probably cheating. Maybe she even knew it and forgot and that was why he was trying to be so nice to her. Maybe he was hoping she would never remember that little fact…

Now, the only problem with that scenario was this; if he wanted her to forget about him cheating, then why wasn't he trying to win her back?

Taking in a deep breath, Maryse wished she could remember, but so far there was nothing.

Listening to the front door being opened and then the distinct voice of Ted calling their dog, Maryse blew out a breath and turned on her heels to head out of the bedroom.

She did it gracefully, feeling in her element as she moved around, her body covered with the new designer dress she picked to wear for that night and her feet wearing a pair of Louboutins she found in the closet.

So yeah, she was looking good and she knew it; she has flat ironed her hair, she was dressing to impress and she has done her make-up to perfection; meaning that she was sure that Ted was going to notice her.

Not that he wanted to make him fall to her feet, she just wanted to look good for a change and maybe go out and see if there was anything good to do in that good for nothing town Ted has dragged her into.

By the time she made it downstairs, Ted was already getting comfortable over the sofa, Riggs sitting by his side and his shoes forgotten by the door.

It was the same every time and not for the first time, she wondered why they were married.

"You are home." She said in her thick accent while pointing out the obvious.

"Yup, I also brought the things I promised. They are in the garage, I'll get them later." With that said, he looked at her and almost doing a double take, he arched an eyebrow.

"Please don't tell me it's our anniversary and I forgot."

I don't know, I mean when is our anniversary?" She asked, placing her eyes on her hips and her lips curving into a smile.

She liked the way Ted was looking at her, if there was something she knew it was that she liked being the center of attention and locked in that house, they only attention she would get was Riggs'.

That Ted was appreciating what she had was a nice change and more than anything, she wanted to get out of the house.

"December… 21 of last year."

"Last week you said we got married on February 14." She pointed out, because apparently Ted was truly bad with dates.

"And we did," He said without missing a beat. "December 21 was the day we first kissed and then we married in February."

Humming, Maryse shifted her weight to her left foot and looked at him through half closed eyes. "So we dated for only two months before getting married?" That was so wrong she couldn't even understand it.

Why would they be cheating on each other if they were newlyweds?

"Yup, love at first sight baby. So why are you all dressed up?"

"I want to go out tonight, being here every day and all by myself is going to drive me crazy. I need to breathe so come on, take a shower and change into something nice, I'll be waiting right here."

With that said, Maryse took the remote out of his hand and being careful not to touch Riggs, she sat down by his side and changed the channel to MTV. He hated MTV, she knew it and when she saw they were airing the Jersey Shore, she smiled and rested her back to the sofa.

Ted just watched her for a while, then without saying a word he got to his feet and walked to the stairs.

Riggs followed him, but before either one of them could make it upstairs, Maryse reminded him.

"Don't let the dog get into the room."

"Jesus Maryse, he won't get in the bed."

"Yeah but he can pee all over and the last thing I want is to walk over dog's pee in my own bedroom."

Mumbling something that she didn't quite get, Ted groaned and then told Riggs to stay down. Then he was up to his room to do as Maryse told him… take a shower and dress nicely.

Yeah… he just couldn't get until she got her memory back, she just couldn't wait…


	5. Chapter 5

Ted was feeling paranoid; and in this newly state of paranoia that has taken over him since he left the comforts of his house, he could feel at least a dozen pair of eyes watching his every move as he walked into the restaurant Maryse insisted on going.

The palm of his hands were sweating, his heart felt constricted inside his chest and he could feel his stomach starting to ache really bad.

Yes, that was how bad he was having it.

Sure, it was stupid to feel that way and he knew it; but it was just that his fake wife had picked a restaurant where he has been many times before and well, he was almost a hundred percent sure that someone was going to come to him and ruin the farce he created for Maryse.

A waitress, a fan… a neighbor; who knew for sure? He just knew that something was going to go down in that restaurant.

Now, as a rule, Ted didn't mind being recognized, quite the contrary; he has always embraced meeting with wrestling enthusiast all over the country and he has lost count of the times he has been spotted and approached on his days off.

It happened at gyms, out in the street, at airports, in gas stations and yes, in restaurants.

That was why he asked the hostess at the entrance for the most secluded table they had in the locale, because he didn't want to take any chances.

That night he wanted to remain in the shadows…

But just to make sure, once they were seated he leered around, hoping that there was no one taking special interest on the fact that WWE superstar Ted Dibiase just walked into the place with a former Diva.

"What's with you?" Maryse asked and flashing her a meek smile, Ted tried to act relaxed.

"With me? Nothing… I'm great… just, tired."

Pursing her lips, the blonde French-Canadian arched an eyebrow and without saying another word, she grabbed the menu and started to inspect it.

She didn't even show the slightest bit of sympathy towards him, her beloved husband and instead she decided to ignore him.

Now, even if that right there proved the egoistical nature of the woman, Ted was glad of her indifference at the fact that he was genuinely tired; after all he was sure that the more they talked, the more he screwed up.

Back at the house he got confused with the dates he has told her about their anniversary and what was worse, she realized it. Luckily, his mind was quick to react and the lie he made about that other lie seemed to satisfy her.

"I want a bottle of red wine, but I want a really good wine."

Looking at her through half closed eyes, Ted blew out a breath. He didn't have to check the wine card to know that he was going to spend a few hundred bucks in whatever bottle of wine she wanted, he just knew it. Because if there was something he has come to realize, it was that Maryse had a taste for the expensive.

"Sure, whatever you want."

Humming and biting on her colored full lips, Maryse looked up to him and smiled. It was probably the first real smile he has seen from her up close and personal and he was a bit taken aback.

He didn't even know she could smile without her face cracking all falling off.

Sure, he has seen her grin and smirk way too many times before, but those bordered more in ill-humor than anything else.

"Good, I also want the pan-roasted salmon with soy ginger glaze."

"A what?" Quirking his lips at how bad that dish sounded, Ted snorted; but ignoring his question, Maryse just told him that she was going to the ladies room and he was left alone to order both their plates and of course, the best wine on the card.

"Ted Dibiase, what a lovely surprise. I see that you are moving on very quickly, good."

"Holy shit," Ted mumbled under his breath and unable to hold it, he cringed. He didn't have to look up to see who just spoke those words so he didn't, he didn't want to look.

And would he? It was his soon to be ex-wife, the same one who packed her things and left him without saying a word and the last person he wanted to see in that precise moment.

So yeah, this was his situation going from bad to worse. It was as if God was punishing him for all his sins; yeah… he was definitely being punished for lying through his teeth so much as of late.

But he was not going to show how out of place he was feeling so snorting and running his fingers along his lips, the third generation wrestler decided to look up, mimicking Maryse's indifference. "I'm just eating out, you know how it is. I haven't lost the habit of eating every day."

Pursing her lips, Kristen crossed her arms to her chest and looked behind her shoulder. Ted followed her eyes and he saw that there was a man sitting a few tables away looking at them somberly.

"New boyfriend, uh?" He asked bitterly, his jaw clenching. "Did you inform him about the little inconvenience of you being married to me?"

Lifting her chin, Kristen shrugged. "He knows that we are going through a divorce and that it will be over soon."

"Right, well it was good seeing you," With that said, he smiled a fake smile and taking the hint, Kristen chuckled.

"I thought you couldn't stand that woman; what was her name? Oh yeah, Maryse. So are you going out with her?"

"I don't think that's any of your business so why don't you go back to your new boy toy and finish your dinner? He looks uncomfortable that you are here." He said, watching the woman he once promised to love forever and realizing that seeing her hadn't affected him as he thought it would.

Yeah, he couldn't deny that he was feeling a bit bitter that she was already flaunting her new boyfriend around but that had more to do with pride than with jealousy… it was weird… actually…

"Ted…"

"Am I a interrupting something?" Maryse said, her thick accent drilling into Ted's brain and making him feel like all the blood in his body drained down to his feet.

So this was it; Kristen was going to expose him as a fraud, Maryse was going to murder him on the spot and he was going to be in the local newspapers and in the dirtsheets as soon as the following morning.

He could already visualize his obituary…

Turning around on her heels, Kristen smiled as she faced Maryse, looking at her head to toe with critical eyes. "No, I was just leaving."

Then, just like that, his current wife walked away and went back to her table.

Feeling as if he could breathe again, Ted blew out the little air he had in his lungs. That was close… he has been so sure that things were going to end badly and yet they didn't.

"Who was that?" Maryse asked as she sat down, her tone cold but firm.

Trying to act normal, Ted swallowed down and shrugged. "No one important; just an ex."

"Oh." The blonde said, placing her elbows on the table and looking at him dead in the eye. "And am I supposed to know about her?"

Narrowing his eyes, Ted pushed the inside of his cheek with his tongue. Watching Maryse getting territorial about him was something he never expected to see.

"About Kristen? Well yeah; actually when you and I first meet I was still with her."

Tilting her head to the side, Maryse licked her lips and blinked a few times. "Is that so… and did you cheat on her with me?"

"No, not at all!" He hurried to say when he noticed the look on the woman's face. She definitely didn't look pleased at that possibility of being 'the other woman' and he didn't want her to think something was odd. "We just got together after Kristen and I ended things."

Nodding, Maryse breathed in and when the waitress came to serve their wine, she didn't even look at it.

"So let me see if I get it; you two broke up, then you hooked up with me and in less than two months you married me. I don't know," She said, wrinkling her nose and flipping at her hair. "That makes it sound like I'm your rebound."

Snorting at the way Maryse never seemed satisfied with the things he said, Ted reached forward and out of instinct, he grabbed her hand in his.

When she didn't pull her hand away, he laced his fingers with hers and gave her a light squeeze.

"That's not the way it happened and you are definitely not my rebound. When I meet you, Kristen and I were broken up for a long time already but I just tried to hold onto what we had; I mean I'm a bit old fashioned when it comes to relationships and I kind of hoped that we could work things out. But things didn't seem to get better and one good day she just left. It was just after that happened that we hooked up."

And that was partly true; minus the hooking up with Maryse of course. He and Kristen had been struggling to keep their marriage afloat for the good part of last year, but apparently she got tired of him and decided to end things once and for all.

That was it, nothing more and nothing less.

Rolling her eyes but keeping her hand in his, Maryse wrinkled her nose. "I don't like the way she looked at me. And quite honestly, she is not that pretty; no wonder I swept you off your feet. She's a midget."

With that said, Maryse grabbed the glass of wine with her free hand and drank from it.

Shaking his head in amazement to her words and pursing his lips, Ted watched her intently. That woman was just impossible.

"So how was it that we meet?"

Shifting in his chair, Ted focused his attention on the woman sitting in front of him. He had already thought about this and he was actually surprised that she waited for so long to ask him.

"I meet you through a friend's girlfriend. You were visiting from Canada and I just happened to be there."

"And you totally fell head over heels." She said in confidence.

Smiling, Ted shook his head no. "Actually no; I mean I have to admit that the first time I saw you, I thought you were beyond beautiful and all that, but quite honestly, you kind of had an attitude problem and well, I don't want you to be mad at me but I thought you were kind of bitchy."

Laughing out loud, Maryse threw her head back and then looked back at him. "Really? What did I do?"

"Well I just saw you as this stuck up, spoiled woman that thought too much of herself. You looked at everybody as if they were way down below you and you were just not really friendly."

"I acted like that with you too?"

"Yes, with me more than anyone."

Shrugging and winking at him, Maryse smiled unapologetically. "What can I say? You'll never see me playing it easy with a guy just because I think he looks good."

Arching an eyebrow, Ted took his hand away from hers and grabbed his own glass of wine to drink it. So, Maryse thought he was good looking… that was very interesting.

The way he described her was pretty much the way she acted while they worked together so he never would have imagined she thought that about him.

"But you ended up marrying me so I guess that I was more than a good looking guy to you." He lied, watching through sparkling eyes as Maryse's hazel orbs were glued to his stare.

"I guess, so cheers to that." She said, lifting her wine up and then drinking.

The rest of the night went down smoothly. Kristen left without him taking notice, no fan came to ask for photos or autographs and what even was more amazing, Maryse proved to be nice company.

Yes she asked a lot of questions about their 'wedding' and other trivial things, but as the wine kept flowing, she just started to talk to him in a more laid back manner and she even laughed at most of his lame attempts to humor her.

In a way it was a different Maryse, one that didn't look at him like he was below her standards, a Maryse whose mannerism didn't annoy him as much and yeah, a Maryse that he didn't know existed.

Quite honestly, he was pretty much sure that she was drunk and feeling amused and a bit tipsy as well, he decided that they should call it a night.

The ride back home was full of chatter though, she told him that she hated doing his laundry, that she was tired of spending so much time on her own and she even confessed how was it that she ended up losing Riggs.

On his part he promised her that he was taking her fishing the next day with him and that for a change he was going to do a cookout for her; he also told her the story on how he was arrested for a DUI and when she punched him on the shoulder telling him that she was going to kill him if the police pulled them over and arrested them both, he just laughed.

It was a good night, even with his encounter with his actual wife.

"Why do we need to keep the dog here?" Maryse asked once they stepped inside the house and the first thing that happened was that Riggs jumped to greet them.

"Because… he's still a puppy and I don't want him out. Come here boy." Her husband said, bending down and petting the one year old dog.

Humming, Maryse walked pass them and headed upstairs. She spent too much time with Riggs as it was and even thought she was warming up to him already, she didn't feel like staying down with him. "He doesn't looks like a puppy, he's almost as big as me."

Once up and in the bedroom, the blonde kicked her shoes off and breathed out. Truth be told, she kind of had too much wine at the restaurant and she was feeling a bit light headed. Not drunk; mind you, just a bit tipsy.

She just wanted to take a shower and go to bed until noon.

"I'm damn tired, I think I could sleep for two days straight." Ted said, walking into the bedroom and unbuttoning the top part off his shirt.

Maryse saw him, her eyes narrowing. "If you sleep for two days you'll miss your flight on Friday. Do you mind helping me with this?" She asked, lifting her left arm a little so he could take a look at the zipper that held her dress together.

As if thinking about it for a second, Ted looked up to the ceiling and then he shrugged. "Sure."

Walking to her, he did as he was asked and once the zipper reached her hip, he smiled and looked at her eyes. "There it is."

Arching an eyebrow, Maryse turned to him and catching him off guard, she kissed him on the lips. It was a chaste kiss, brief and soft as a butterfly touch.

Pulling his face an inch away, Ted licked his lips and blinked slowly. He wanted to ask her what she was doing, but the words got caught in his throat and instead he leaned forward and pecked her lips as well.

Much like that first contact, this kiss didn't last long and when he pulled away, his eyes meet hers in an instant.

Maryse was looking back at him, the intensity of her hazel eyes fixed on his. "Why don't we ever kiss?" She asked, straight to the point.

Clearing his throat, Ted scratched his jaw. That was a question he wasn't expecting. "I don't… you basically don't remember me and I don't want you to feel like I'm forcing myself on you. I don't want to pressure you into anything." He said in a whisper.

Closing the distance once again, Maryse's lips found his once again, her head tilting to the right and this time adding a bit of pressure into the kiss.

Now, this was a situation Ted didn't really want to be in, but for some reason he caught her bottom lip with his and as a response, Maryse parted her lips for him.

It happened slowly, they shared a few open mouthed kisses and before he knew it, his tongue was brushing against hers.

Realizing what he was doing, Ted broke away, looking down at her with a frown on his face; but when her hands moved to his chest and started unbuttoning the rest of his shirt, he just let her do it.

Feeling her hands sliding against his naked torso, Ted grabbed her face and leaning down, he kissed her.

He sneaked into her mouth, his tongue dancing against her own while his hands moved down to her waist so he could pull her closer to him.

Her response was a very satisfactory one, she was kissing him back and she even rose to her tip toes to circle his neck with her arm.

That was the moment where he heard Riggs and without stopping the kiss, he opened his eyes to find the dog looking at him. His head was tilted to the side and in Ted's mind, his canine eyes were full of reproach.

Lifting a hand and motioning Riggs to go, Ted swirled Maryse around, lifted her up a little and placed her on top of his dresser. That way, settled between her legs and closing his eyes again, he kept kissing her.

But Riggs wasn't giving up and startling him, he barked at him.

"Close the door." Maryse said against his lips, but instead of kissing him back, she slid her hand down between his legs and touched his hardness through his pants.

That right there was what made him react and almost jumping a feet away from her, he snorted.

What the fuck was he doing? This was Maryse, a drunk Maryse that thought she was married to him so the whole thing was wrong.

Besides he didn't even like her. Yes she was easy on the eyes and kissing her was more than pleasant, but she was just… she was Maryse and she just touched his damn erection!

"I'll take him out, I'll be up in a minute." He said in a raspy whisper.

After saying that, Ted almost ran out of the bedroom and biting hard on her lips, Maryse blinked in confusion.

What the hell just happened there?

Was she really making out with Ted? Because sure, the man could be her husband and all that, but without memory he was just a stranger and even thought she knew that, she has been basically ready to jump on his bones as if it was nothing.

Running a shaky hand through her hair, Maryse slid down the dresser and made it to the door. Once there she closed it and locked it, hoping that once he came back, Ted wouldn't be able to get in.

True, he was not going to like that, not after she got him all hot and bothered like she did; but if what he said about not wanting to pressure her was true, he was going to leave her alone.

Luckily for her, Ted never made it back to the room and when she woke up the next morning, she found him sleeping on the living room, wearing the same clothes he has been wearing the previous night and with Riggs resting against him.

Not wanting to wake him up, Maryse went outside with a huge mug of coffee and sat on the porch, thinking.

An hour after she got there, Ted walked out and said that he was going to go fishing with Riggs.

That way and ignoring the promise he made about taking her along, he left.

Not that Maryse minded, she wanted to use that time alone to see if she could remember something and who knew, Ted told her that he worked in the sports industry so maybe she could do a little research about that.

After all a man that made the kind of money he was making and who traveled so much like he did had to be known in some circles and in the internet, she could find anything.


	6. Chapter 6

"Well… I guess this is it." Blowing out a breath and running his fingers through his short hair, Ted said absentmindedly as he moved his head to the side to look at Riggs. "I don't even know how I let it get this far in the first place."

At those words, his four legged buddy just looked at him in curiosity, not really knowing what Ted was talking about.

Not that it mattered, because as soon as Ted spoke, his clear blue eyes went back into staring at the lake extending in front of him and his mind travelled back to the phone conversation he just had.

The conversation has been with Maryse's sister, Michelle; the woman was a constant caller to the former WWE Diva's phone and in that particular day, Ted decided to call her back and let her know what was happening.

Now, that right there has been a very awkward moment even though he didn't get into too much detail; he just told her the part where Maryse lost her memory and at the news, the woman used her broken English to tell him that she was going to take the first flight she could to pick up her sister.

Upon hearing that, Ted felt a huge wave of relief hit him, after all he just did the right thing and maybe he could be absolved of that wild impulse that made him lie through his teeth to Maryse…

But at the same time, he couldn't get rid of the guilt he was feeling, especially after the events of the previous night and he was a hundred percent sure that Maryse was going to kill him with her perfectly manicured fingers as soon as she realized what he did to her.

Not that he could blame her because he knew that he deserved everything he would get from her. So yeah, he knew she was going to auto-combust in anger and that she was going to get off on him; but because he deserved that and more, he just had to take whatever it was to come.

It was karma, he made his own bed and now it was time to lay on it.

Clearing his throat, the third generation wrestler shrugged. He has been sitting there for a while, thinking and preparing himself mentally for the confrontation that awaited him back home.

"Maybe I don't even have tell her; I mean tomorrow I'll be back on the road and I can make sure not to return until she's far away from here. Let her sister deal with her… right?"

Snorting at his cowardice, Ted shook his head and with a groan, he got to his feet. No, he needed to be the one telling her and he was going to do just that.

He wouldn't be at peace unless he did that so ending his fishing trip before it could even begin, he started to walk back to his car so he could make the drive back home…

Meanwhile, back at the Dibiase house, Maryse was still sitting on the porch. Her coffee was already gone and she was just sitting there, musing about what happened with Ted last night and wondering if he left without her because he was mad.

After all she locked the door on him after working him up and as a rule, men hated that.

Not that she should give a damn; if he really cared about her he had to understand that her lack of memory was making her feel confused and that she wasn't in a position to be messing things even more by sleeping with a man she didn't really know.

Sure, Ted could argue about them being married but at the end that was irrelevant; if she couldn't remember him, then to her he was nothing but a stranger.

But maybe all that could change, her idea of checking the internet for anything that could help her get her memory back was still in her mind and that's what she should do.

Hell, that was something she should have done a long time ago so she wasn't sure why she got the idea so late. Sure, for all she knew the computer in his office was password protected and she wouldn't be able to remember it, but the least she could do was try.

If it turned out that she couldn't use it, then she was going to use the MasterCard Ted gave her and she was going to buy a laptop that she could use.

With that in mind and full of determination, the former WWE Diva got to her feet and made it back into the house.

Once in, she walked straight into his office and sat behind the computer to turn it on. That's what she was doing when she heard a knock on the front door, waiting on the computer to start working.

Rolling her eyes in annoyance, the blonde mumbled a complaint in her native French before taking in a deep breath. "What is it now?"

Sure, since the first time she got into the house, this was the first time someone knocked on the door, but that didn't mean that it annoyed her less. No, quite the contrary, she didn't want to deal with anyone…

But at the same time it registered in her mind that whoever was knocking probably knew her and that could be good to her memory. Nodding at that possibility, she jumped to her feet and made it to the door.

Now, the last thing she expected when opening the door was for some strange looking man to smile a huge smile upon seeing her before darting forward to kiss both her cheeks.

"Maryse, my darling! Long time no see."

Snarling her lips, the blonde crossed her arms to her chest and arched an eyebrow. "And who are you?" She said curtly, wanting to know why the man was greeting her with such effusive familiarity.

Gasping a bit dramatically, the man did a double take and without waiting for an invitation in, he walked right into the living room. "What do you mean with that? It's me, Cody!"

Shrugging when the name didn't ring any bells, Maryse placed her hand to her hip and eyed him down. This Cody was now sitting comfortably on her sofa, looking up at her with a stupid smile on his face.

"I don't remember you."

"Ah," Cody said while waving her off. "So Teddy wasn't lying when he said you couldn't remember a thing. Who would have thought…"

Chewing on her lips, Maryse tilted her head to the side. "And why would Ted lie about it?"

"No reason," He said while flashing her a grin. "But I don't know, I thought it was an excuse to keep you all by himself. You know how he gets when it comes to you."

"Actually I don't," She said as a matter of fact. All she knew about their relationship was that they weren't so close.

"Well to start the man is crazy about you; he has been since the moment you two got together and I couldn't imagine him leaving you here sans memory while he got to work. Not that I blame him, someone has to bring the money in, right?"

Staring him down in distrust, Maryse said nothing. There was something about Cody that she didn't quite like and a lot of things invaded her mind.

He knew something that she didn't…

"Talking about Teddy, where is he?"

"He went fishing-" She started to say, meaning to add that he was going to be home soon. But before he could finish her sentence, Cody snorted.

"Meaning that he will be out all day, interesting."

"Well maybe you'll want to come back when he's here."

Tilting his head to the side, Cody breathed in. "You really, really can't remember a thing? No wonder Ted is going insane over this one." After saying that, he laughed in the same manner than a kid would laugh when he was telling an inside joke and Maryse felt very uncomfortable about it.

"What's so funny about that?"

"No, no, no… there's nothing funny about it and I'm sorry that you are going through this; but I was just wondering how was Ted coping with it. I mean I don't want to sound tacky but you two were always all over each other if you know what I mean and well, knowing Ted like I know him, I bet he's trying to play the good guy and thus he hasn't even touched you. I know because he's cranky ever since the accident and that can only mean one thing, that he's not getting any."

At those words, Maryse lifted her head and pursed her lips. Cody was obviously talking about hers and Ted's sex live and that was something she didn't want to discuss.

"Anyway, I guess I'll try to catch Ted out at the lake so… I'll be seeing you later. Hopefully Ted will catch something big and he'll cook it for us." With that said, Cody stood up, made it to the door and left.

For a while Maryse just stared after him, thinking on the things he said. Now, she couldn't put any kind of trust in a guy she didn't know, but apparently that man knew more about her that she knew about herself. Ted did too, he probably knew things about her that no one else did and yet she couldn't get to fully trust him.

The only thing that she knew was that Ted has been amazing to her ever since she got out of the hospital and she hadn't been exactly repaying in kind.

And maybe what Cody said was true… after all Ted told him that if they weren't closer was because he didn't want to pressure her into anything and that spoke volumes about his feelings.

Ah, but there she was thinking that he was cheating and for some reason, that made her feel guilty. He wasn't cheating, he was just respecting her.

Closing the door, Maryse turned around and made upstairs into the bedroom to take a shower and change. When that was done, her mind was a bit clearer and she decided that she was going to cook for him.

He told her once that she was an amazing cook and that day she wanted to make it up to him with something she knew he loved, food. After the events of last night it was the least she could do…

With that in mind, she started to work; she even went as far taking his clean clothes out of the hamper and folding them nicely to put them in his drawers.

She was in the middle of that process when Ted and Riggs walked in, catching off guard while she prepared the salad that was to accompany the main dish.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting you so soon." She said, her tone more cheerful that anything she has used for him since ever.

At that tone, Ted frowned but he didn't give it too much thought. "Yeah, well I never got to get in the boat."

And he didn't, yeah he made it to the lake but he just sat in the grass, thinking and making that phone call…

"Cody was here." Maryse said as if it was nothing while taking something that smelled deliciously out of the oven and placing it over the counter.

"What?" Ted said almost in terror, because if there was something he knew about his friend was that he was never up to any good.

As a response, Maryse hummed and walked to him, leaning forward and kissing him right on the lips.

At the contact, Ted was a bit surprised, and when she pulled away he grabbed her face in his hands and looked straight into her warm hazel eyes. "What was that for?"

Shrugging and rolling her eyes, Maryse blew out a breath. "Can't a woman kiss her husband without being questioned about it?" With that being said, she turned on her heels and walked back into the kitchen. "Lunch will be ready soon, I'm going to take another shower and then…"

"Maryse, I have to talk to you."

Wrinkling her nose and smiling a rare smile his way, Maryse blinked. "About what?"

"About us…"

When he said that, Maryse looked away and bit on her lips, her smile dying in an instant.

"Look, I don't think there's an easy way to say this so I'll just say it. We are not married; we never even dated and I'm pretty much sure that you hated me since day one. We've never been anything more than co-workers, but when the hospital called after your accident I lied and said I was your husband. I don't know why I said it… but I'm sorry."

There, he said it; he let it all out and in a weird kind of way he felt good. But at the same time, he was wondering if it has been a good idea to tell her while she was in the kitchen holding a knife…

"I talked to your sister earlier today and she'll pick you up soon, maybe tomorrow."

Swallowing hard, he watched as Maryse remained stoic, her eyes glued to the salad she was just making and her jaw painfully clenched.

That was not the reaction he has been expecting, and for that same reason he started to get worried.

"I'm going now… you can stay here until she arrives," Yeah, he has thought about it and while driving there, he decided that he was going to crash at his parent's place until Maryse was gone.

It was the least he could do.

So, once that was said, he walked out the same way he came, leaving a confused Maryse standing in his kitchen.


	7. Chapter 7

First of all, I apologize. It's been long months since I last updated this and if it wasn't because I took this story and re-wrote it with another couple, I wouldn't have found the inspiration to write more. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish it! Thanks for the reviews and enjoy!

XxXxXxXxXxX

"You are so freaking stupid; I don't even know why I keep being friends with your stupid dumb ass."

Rolling his clear blue eyes at what his supposedly best friend just told to him on the phone, Ted Dibiase Jr. shifted the weight of his body to his right foot and blew out another breath.

This was not the first time Cody would blurt such unkind words at him and like all the previous times, Ted responded with silence. He just didn't want to talk about the subject anymore and let alone with Cody Runnels.

No, it was bad enough that for the last couple of weeks he has been carrying a heavy bag full of guilt upon his shoulders to now have Cody continuously nagging him about the things he did or didn't do regarding the 'Maryse situation' as well.

It was his fault though, he shouldn't have told him… or better yet, he shouldn't have made Maryse believe that she was his wife.

"You should have your man card revoked too, you know."

Getting fed up with everything already, Ted tightened his grip on the cell phone and spoke. "Just drop it, okay." Now, his voice came out in a robotic kind of way but he was proud that at least he was able to keep under control his building temper.

As a response, his longtime friend laughed out loud. "Drop it? How can I… Ted, how can I drop it when I know that my best friend is a fucking wuss? Man… I even went there to help you get into her pants and all for what, for you to screw up and confess everything before getting to the good part?"

Unable to help it, Ted lifted his face up and with his eyes fixed in the dark skies, he snorted bitterly. "And what did you expect me to do? Keep the lies forever? Oh no, I forgot; all you wanted be to do was take her into my bed and 'nail' her, right?"

At last that was the thing Cody kept repeating over and over again, that he couldn't understand how Ted has been unable to _do_ her.

Wasn't that why he did it all? He would ask out of nowhere. Because according to the younger wrestler, making such an elaborate charade just to make Maryse do his laundry and keep his house tidy was just a lame excuse because deep inside, what Ted has really wanted was take Maryse into his bed.

Ted couldn't agree with that; lying to get laid was definitely not the way he operated and he wouldn't have been able to do it even if that would have been his intentions. In his mind it would be like rape and even though Cody would argue until exhaustion that it was not like that, he just couldn't agree.

So yeah, in his mind telling Maryse the truth was the best he could have done because being rational about it, he screwed up big time when it came to her so coming clean was the first step towards redemption.

As for Cody's way of thinking? He didn't want Maryse; that was ridiculous! The woman was nothing but a frivolous, conceited woman with a huge complex of grandeur! He didn't even like her so no, he just couldn't allow himself to want her…

But even though she wasn't the most pleasant person walking the earth, the reality of everything was that keeping her away from her loved ones while she was vulnerable has been a low thing from him regardless of anything and now he honestly felt bad about it.

"I still can't believe you chickened out. I mean you had her right there, in your house and thinking that she was your wife! The least you should have done was let her fulfill her role completely. Think about it, just imagine it…"

"You are a fucking pervert." Ted said while running a hand down his face. He just didn't understand his friend's logic and wicked way of thinking.

"Oh I'm the fucking pervert? Who's the one that lied to her and brought her home to play house? Admit it, Ted. I've seen the way you looked at her when the two of you were working together; you wanted her and right now, deep in your mind you regret that you didn't get a chance to fuck the shit out of her smoking hot body."

Arching an eyebrow and snorting despite himself, Ted shook his head. "First of all, I've never looked at Maryse with anything that wasn't contempt and second, I don't know how you managed to date such a sweet woman like Layla. I mean, listen to you, your mind is fucked up."

As he said that, out of the corner of his eye Ted saw Maryse, she was walking out of the building she has been into and stepping out towards the parking lot. As she walked out, he couldn't help but to follow her progress with his stare.

Now, that he came to get a glimpse of the former WWE Diva that night hadn't been a coincidence; no, he actually drove all to the way to LA because he knew she was going to be there and he wanted to catch up to her.

Why did he do that? He still wasn't sure, but when he heard that she was going to make her first appearance after being release from the WWE, he felt like he needed to go there and talk to her; maybe to apologize now that she was apparently back to normal.

"Lay loves my dirty mind, ask her." Cody said, taking Ted out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, as much as I would love this oh so lovely chat with you to drag into eternity, I have to go."

"You wasted a one of a lifetime opportunity, Ted, and you don't fucking see it. Open your eyes!"

"Shut up." Ted said, before hanging up. He didn't want Maryse to leave before he could go to her so he hurried after her.

Now true, for all he knew apologizing could prove to be pointless and a big mistake, but he couldn't keep his mind at peace knowing that he still owed her a sincere apology. And yeah, he could argue with himself about how he already told her how sorry he was, but that was when she was still without her memory so it basically didn't count.

But now he had a chance to apologize face to face so following his instinct while keeping a safe distance while following Maryse to her car, he inhaled deeply into the cold air of the night and then he blew out a breath.

Now, Maryse's car was at the farthest corner of the open parking lot; meaning that if she decided to kill him right then and there, no one would know.

"Statistically speaking, most attacks on women occur in lonely parking lots as this one so you know, you should really consider parking in a closer spot next time." Ted said dumbly when the French Canadian beauty was trying to open the car and probably startled, she dropped the key into the pavement before looking back to shoot him an icy-cold glare. "Hey."

Clenching her jaw and obviously tensing, Maryse's eyes found his and she snorted incredulously. "You have a lot of nerve to come here and talk to me, Dibiase." Her voice was steady and firm and once her words were said she lifted her chin defiantly at him.

She looked stunning, like always, but the cold look in her eyes and the petulant manner in which her lips pursed at the sight of him made Ted remember that her beauty was only superficial, because deep inside this woman was ugly as she was cold.

Clearing his throat, Ted pursed his lips while keeping his eyes on her. "I know, I just… I won't take much of your time, I just wanted to come here and apologize." He said, trying to keep his eyes focused.

Shaking her head, Maryse looked up to the black skies and then she turned her back to him so she could open the door. The only problem was that the car was still locked and the key lying somewhere in the ground.

Mumbling something that he couldn't quite understand, the platinum blonde turned around and tried to find the key. Ted saw her do it and having spotted the silver object before she was able to do it herself, he bent down to pick it up and give it to her.

"Here-" He said, extending his hand so that she could take it.

As he did that, Maryse's eyes got caught up with his and then she just lost it, she sprung forward and hit him hard on his chest. She did it one time and then another and another, her hands closed to fists and hard as rocks. "Just who do you think you are? You can't… do what you did just like that. You had no right!"

She said, her teeth clenched and her face flushed in anger. On his part, Ted just remained there, the muscles of his jaw all tensed up and his eyes on her. "I'm sorry. I know a simple sorry won't cut it, but still… I shouldn't have done it."

Now, his words were sincere, but at the same time he couldn't help but to think on the things Cody said about him wanting her.

Could it be true? He remembered the time they kissed in his room and how much he has liked it. Even when he would refuse to admit it out loud because it made him feel guilty, he has thought about that kiss and quite a lot.

Sometimes he would wonder about what would have happened if things would have run a different course that night and yeah, more often than not his mind would get stuck in the way she responded to him…

He has liked that kiss and if it wasn't because of Riggs kept interrupting, who knows what would have happened between them.

Just to think about it made him shudder. No, as good as that felt it has been a mistake. She was drunk, she had no memory and things shouldn't have gone so far.

"Anyway, that's my apology… and I hope that one day you'll find it in your heart to forgive me."

At that last statement, Maryse opened her mouth to reply but instead of words, a bitter chuckle escaped her. After that she said nothing, she just hit him again, this time with her open palm and right on his cheek.

The smack stung and it made his face jerk to the left, but at the same time he has got it worse as well so he managed.

"That's what I think of your apology. Now get out of my sight because I swear that if you don't-"

Before Maryse could finish talking, Ted was moved by a force that he couldn't recognize as coming from himself and he sprung forward, circling an arm to her waist and then bringing her to him so that he could kiss her.

It was weird… almost like an out of body experience where he could see himself pulling her to him and kissing her hard. His lips pressed insistently against hers without reservation, his teeth tugged at her lips without shame and his tongue invading her mouth without any sense or wrongdoing.

It was just… he didn't know, but it felt too damn good for him to pull away just yet.

And the best part? Maryse was kissing him back. She wasn't trying to bite his tongue out, she wasn't trying to rip his eyes out of its sockets with her perfectly manicured fingers and her hands were not beating on his chest as a way to make him stop. No, her tongue was moving along with his curious one as her hands came to rest on his stomach.

In that moment, Ted couldn't think about anything that wasn't based on pure sensation and when he realized that he had her pinned against the car he tried to shake his head from all fussiness.

It was a bit hard though, with her body molding perfectly against his and the kiss becoming more intense and profound, he just couldn't think straight.

Fortunately, Maryse apparently got all her senses back in place and pushing him away with all her might, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Touch me one more time and you'll regret it for the rest of your life. You don't get to play anymore games with me so consider yourself warned."

Staring at her with his sparkling eyes, Ted nodded, a mixture of guilt and confusion clouding his head. "Fine, I won't bother you anymore." He said, turning around and moving away from her without turning back…

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

First of all, I want to thank you all for the nice reviews, I'm always glad to read what you think of this. As for this chapter, it's a short set up for what's coming… hope you enjoy ;)

**XxXxXxX**

Walking with all the confidence in the world and with a sly smile gracing the soft features of her face, Maryse Ouellet lifted a hand up in the air and adjusted her brand new designer sunglasses over the bridge of her nose so that the sun wouldn't bother her hazel eyes.

As she did that, she could feel the elderly woman walking with unsecure steps after her and her smile got even bigger. "Mom… I mean you don't mind if I call you like that, right?"

The woman didn't reply to the insolent question and when the French-Canadian turned around to face her, she saw that her mouth was open as if to talk but still, no word was coming out. She looked lost… almost uncertain and Maryse had to bite hard on her lips to prevent a laugh to escape her rosy colored mouth.

Managing to hold her act together, the former WWE Diva breathed it and then she smiled again. That she couldn't help because the truth was that she was loving it all. Seeing that lost look in the woman's face made her mission feel almost complete.

"Anyway," She said in an arrogant tone while flipping at her hair. "Teddy will come home in a few days so why don't you all come over? He is always talking about you and how much he misses getting together with you so it will be nice to give him the surprise. I'll cook for everyone, he'll love that even better."

"Yeah, that would be nice… as it's obvious that we have a lot to catch up with _Teddy_." That wasn't the woman talking, it was Ted's brother and the tone of his voice wasn't a pleasant one.

Maryse couldn't care less about his tone or his words; he wasn't important anyway... this was the last time she was going to mingle with the Dibiase family and she just needed to keep her act for a while longer.

"Then it's a date, all of you with us in two days." Rolling her eyes, she walked to the woman and kissed both her cheeks. "Ciao, mom… bye Bret;" With that said, she swirled expertly on her feet and snapped her fingers. "Come on Riggs, it's time to get home."

Barking in excitement, the dog followed her and she was glad, as it wouldn't be good for the beast to blow up her cover and act as if he didn't even know her. But no, fortunately… or unfortunately, the two of them had spent a lot of time together in the not so distant past and she was no stranger to him.

So with the dog following and then getting into the passenger seat of Ted's car, Maryse waved at the two members of the Dibiase family that were staring after her and then she drove away.

"So this is it, Ted… now you will learn not to mess with me."

As she said that, Riggs barked at her once again and quirking her lips into a grimace, Maryse grunted.

"Ugh, now you be quiet and be a good dog and I promise to find a nice place for you to stay." Because no, she didn't pick the dog to take him home as she told Ted's mom… no, if she went there and picked him up it was because she knew that taking the dog was basically stabbing Ted where he would bleed the most and her motives were screaming retribution.

Yes… she remembered the time she unintentionally let the dog out of the house and he ran away; she could recall as if it was the day before the way Ted almost went crazy looking for him and why not, she remembered even more the guilt that had consumed her whole for days.

Thinking about that was what gave her the idea of taking the dog, and since she has taken a spare key of Ted's house before leaving for good without him knowing, getting into his garage and taking his car to drive it into his parent's place had been easy… fooling them into believing she was the new wife? That has been trickier but equally successful.

True, she had to use a lot of her wit to make her words believable, but at the end they swallowed all of what she said and they were even resenting Ted for keeping his new marriage away from them.

Now, was that low? Yeah, but Ted had it coming, he had it a long time coming. For long weeks she had sat back and done nothing and by then she couldn't take it anymore. The memory of what he did… it was boiling inside of her and if she didn't acted on the anger she was feeling, she was going to explode. Ted had no right to do what he did to her and she needed to make him pay.

It was like some liked said, payback was a bitch and so was she…

**XxXxXxXxX**

The third generation wrestler known as Ted Dibiase Jr. heard his phone ringing as soon as he walked out of the shower, but as he would often do, he didn't rush to answer it. Why hurry? After the gruesome workout he just had at the gym he didn't want to force his body anymore that it was necessary so he waited until he was sitting over the bed in his hotel room so he could start looking around for the small device.

He found it resting against his pillow and after looking at the screen to see who it was, he lifted it up and answered it with a smile on his face. "Hey, what's up, Bret?"

"Hey, _Teddy_, what's new on your end?"

Ted chuckled at the way his brother just called him but he shrugged it off. "Not much, I was just at the gym doing some damage. You know how it is, no pain no gain and today I think I gained a lot."

The youngest of the Dibiase clan hummed and then went ahead. "Well I'm here with mom and we were wondering about this term we heard today, bigamy; do you know what that is, Teddy?"

Frowning, Ted rested over his back and snorted. "Um, yeah I know what bigamy means… why?"

"Oh nothing, it's just that your wife was here and well, we talked."

Closing his eyes, Ted snarled his lips and wondered what was his soon to be ex-wife trying to do now. He wouldn't put it pass her to go and try to brainwash his mother into thinking he was to blame for their impending divorce; that woman would do anything and as it was, his mother was already upset with him about the separation.

Kristen knew that… she knew his mom and she knew about her believes on marriage being forever and all that stuff so no, his wife going to her mom didn't sound good to his ears.

"Kristen was there? And what did she want?"

"No, not Kristen, it was your other wife."

This time Ted snorted out loud and opened his clear blue eyes, confusion written all over them. "My other wife? What are you talking about?"

"Oh you know, that wife of yours that smells like sin; the one with long blonde hair, pretty face, nice body and long legs. I think she introduced herself as Maryse Dibiase."

"What?" Ted blurted out as he automatically sat over the mattress. No, no, no and no… did he hear right, did his brother just told him that Maryse was at her parents' house?

"Needless to say that mom is pretty upset. She is bawling her eyes out while telling dad about one of their sons marrying in Vegas without telling them he was even dating and worse yet, while he is still married to his first wife. So yeah, it's been a pretty hectic day here so expect a Dibiase sermon coming your way soon."

Snorting without any kind of amusement whatsoever, Ted slapped a hand hard to his face and breathed in. "I should have seen this coming. God!" Ah, but it was his fault, as he should have seen Maryse doing something as low as going to his mom to talk crap about him… and he should have taken the way she has done nothing to get back at him as a clear indication that she was up to something nasty. "What did she say?"

"Basically, she just came to take Riggs and…"

"Wait, waaaait a moment there-" Ted said, his heart beating fast as a rush of adrenaline shook him from head to toe. "She took Riggs?"

"Yes she did, and she was also driving your car."

The little… slamming a fist to the mattress, Ted clenched his jaw as hard as he could and then he got up to his feet. He was getting angrier with every second that passed by and he didn't want to start a tirade against his brother.

"Bret… I'll have to call you back in a few minutes." Hanging up and clenching his jaw, the blue eyed man started browsing through his phone and when he came upon her name in his contact list, he pressed the call button.

After three rings, she answered. "Bonjour!"

Now, the first thing Ted noticed was that her voice was too pleasant and to him that only meant trouble. Maryse was never pleasant… so this had to be part of her maquiavelik plan to get back at him.

"Where is he?" He rasped out dryly.

"Non, je ne parle pas anglais." Now, Maryse used the same sweet tone to answer with that and tightening his grip on the phone, Ted swallowed hard down and shook his head.

"I'm not playing around here so tell me where is my dog!" His anger was rising, he could feel it taking over him so he took a deep breath to calm down a little. Going off on her wasn't going to be the solution… not while she had Riggs.

"Listen, Maryse…" This time his voice came out softer as he knew that he needed to reason with her. "Just tell me where you are so I can go there and pick Riggs."

"No anglais." With that, his former valet hung up on him and Ted just remained there, with the phone glued to his ear and his mind racing.

By then he was pissed as hell, especially he tried calling her back only to realize that she decided to turn off her phone so she wouldn't have to deal with him. It was okay though… as there were only two places in the world where she could be and he had access to both of them.

Throwing his phone to the bed, Ted walked to one of his suitcases and started rummaging around until he found them… the keys to her apartment and the ones to his own house. "I'll get you, Maryse… and you are not going to get away with this."


	9. Chapter 9

There was nothing more satisfying in the entire world than the feeling of fulfillment you would get deep in your heart after getting even with someone that has done you great harm.

It Maryse's case the feeling was bordering in exhilaration… in a way it was even rewarding and as she closed her eyes and rested her head against the marble tub in her bathroom, a smile formed on her lips and a content sight blew out of her mouth.

Yes, ever since she managed to get an upper hand on Ted, she has been feeling extremely blithe and it showed in her spirits. She would smile with no reason at all, there was a surge of adrenaline wanting to break free from the bondage imposed by her flesh and she has even found herself whistling to a random tune as the day passed by.

Summed up, she was as happy as she could ever get and in her mind things couldn't get better than that… unless of course, she could somehow see the look on Ted's face as he wondered in dismay what has become of his precious dog.

Snorting, the French-Canadian submerged her hand into the warm water of her bubble bath and grabbed a sponge to begin the process of cleaning up. Once in her hold, she dragged it up her leg and bit hard on her lips.

Now yeah, a lot of people could argue and condemn her doings because in their eyes, what she did was low and pure evil; but to her she was just doing what it was fair. Ted has messed with her when she was the most vulnerable and that was something she couldn't overlook.

If she would have let it pass, she wouldn't have been able to live in peace with herself and she couldn't let that happen. No, she needed her revenge and she'll be damned if she didn't enjoy it.

And the best part of it? Her revenge was sweet and un-fattening.

Moving the sponge to her other leg, the blonde washed her calves, her thighs and she even brushed it in passing between her legs, but instead of dwelling there she slid it up her stomach and started to rub her flesh in slow circles.

"Ted, Ted, Ted… what's up that you stopped calling?" She mumbled the question under her breath, wondering once again about the reason why he ceased the numerous calls he has been making to her.

The last one has been that morning, he called demanding her to tell him the whereabouts of Riggs and like all the previous times, she faked being unable to talk English and hung up on him.

Could it be that he gave up in his intents? Somehow she didn't believe that so she needed to be very careful because that man was probably up to no good.

"But I won't let him get the upper hand on me this time; I'm the one in control now and he better get that into his head once and for all."

Pursing her lips petulantly and lifting her feet out of the water so that she could place it over the border of the tub, the former Diva closed her eyes in relaxation and sunk a little lower into the bubble bath.

She remained like that for a couple of minutes, the water soothing her and embracing her in that way she has always loved as her mind started to clear off… but then, her phone started to ring and her eyes flew open as her hand automatically reached out for her iPhone.

"There you are." She said with a sly smile forming on her lips as she saw on the screen that it was him. She let it ring a couple of times though before finally answering it.

"Qui est-ce?" She asked in her native French and using the sultriest voice she could muster.

"I'm going to give you one last chance, Maryse; tell me where is Riggs and I'm going to let things die here. There will be no hard feelings and we will both move on and forget all about this."

Listening to what the third generation wrestler just said, the blonde hummed and for the first time since he started calling, she decided to talk to him in English. "I don't know Ted; you kept me in your house for a few weeks so maybe I want to keep the little beast for that same amount of time… maybe a while longer."

"Well that's not gonna happen, as Riggs is coming back with me today so come on, tell me what did you do to him."

Now, Maryse couldn't help but to notice that Ted sounded dead serious as he spoke and she had no doubt that in his mind he truly believed that she was going to be intimidated by his tone; but the thing was that she wasn't, not even a little bit.

"Listen, Dibiase… drop the menacing tone and stop bothering me. When I decide to send the dog back to you I will do it in my own terms. Until then leave me alone or I may never want to give him back to you." Her words ended up with a smile from her lips and she even chuckled.

"Fine, let's do this my way then; just don't go saying that I didn't give you a choice to back out from this." With that said, he hung up on her.

Taking the phone away from her ear and staring at it in disbelief, Maryse gasped. She just couldn't believe that he hung up… It was okay though… let him have his little victory as it was going to be a short lived one. "You don't know who you messed up with, Ted." She said at last and then, putting the phone away, she tried to go back to that nice little place where revenge was sweet and rewarding…

But before her mind could reach that lovely place, the door to her bathroom slammed open and startled, the young woman gasped as her feet slipped into the water making a splash.

"Okay, your little game is over so tell me all about it now. Where is Riggs and what did you do with him?"

Feeling her heart beating painfully hard inside her chest and her hazel eyes going as wide as they could go, Maryse closed her hands into fists and clenched her jaw hard. "What the hell are you doing here?" And how did he get in?

Oh she was going to give hell to the building personal because she wasn't paying for security just so that Ted could break into her apartment as if he owned the damn place.

"You know what I'm doing here so just give me the dog so that I can get out."

His tone was hard, his southern accent thick as she has ever heard it and his eyes on her felt dangerous; in resume, he looked mad and she couldn't remember ever seeing him get truly mad.

Annoyed? Probably, but the fire in his eyes were talking pure anger and suddenly remembering that she was in the tub, naked and exposed, she placed her arm strategically over her chest and lifted her chin up.

Not that it mattered, as the bubbles were probably making a better job at hiding her nakedness from him.

"Get out of here before I call security."

Taking a step further, Ted grabbed her iPhone and threw it in the bathtub; it went in with a splash and sunk immediately. "Go ahead, call them."

"No…" She began to say in dismay, her hand dropping into the water so that she could rescue her phone. It was in vain though, because when she finally managed to get it out, it was dead. "Look at what you did."

"Get out of there." He commanded in a raspy growl as he watched her, and as he did that, he grabbed a bathrobe that has been lying in the floor and held it at reaching distance so that she could grab it and put it on.

In response, Maryse sent him a look that felt as if it was mean to freeze him on the spot. "No; I don't have to do anything you say, Ted."

Pursing his lips, the blue eyed man moved even closer, grabbed her arms and forced her up to her feet.

"What do you think you are doing?" The question came out in a shriek and as if by instinct, she pushed him away. "Get your hands off and get out of my house now!"

Who the hell did he think he was? He couldn't do that…

Backing off and turning his back on her, Ted crossed his arms against his chest. "Go ahead and get dressed as I have no intention of doing this with you naked."

Feeling her face flush in anger, the former valet took the bathrobe and covered up, not because he told her to do it, but just because she didn't want to be naked during whatever kind of exchange they were about to have.

"How did you get in here?"

"That doesn't matter, give me what's mine and I'll be out as soon as I came in."

Pursing her lips, the woman tied the robe up front and stepping out of the tub, she started to walk back into her bedroom. "Well I'm sorry to inform you this, but it seems like you will have to go back the same way you came in right now because the dog is not here."

At that, he turned around and followed her. "Then you will have to take me to him so get dressed so that we can get going."

"Well… about that;" Pursing her lips, Maryse shrugged and swirled on her feet gracefully. "You see, since the accident my head gets a little fussy and I tend to forget things and well, I kind of forgot where I left him."

"No you didn't, you know exactly where he is so stop being a little bitch and tell me where the fuck I can find him." As he said that, Maryse noticed that his words were full of venom and to her that was a clear indication that he was mad.

Good, let him be mad, she thought. She was not going to have any kind of consideration towards him because he had none for her.

So, wanting to push his buttons even more, she faked out a gasp and covered her lips with her hand. "Ted… such a language. I wonder what would your mother think if she found out how you talk to your loving wife. She's such a sweet lad…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Ted grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him.

"Let's cut the bullshit right here, Maryse. You are in all your right to be mad at me and I won't even try to talk you out of feeling that way; but whatever bad feelings there are between us should stay like that, between us so leave my dog out of it."

Maryse shook her head no while looking defiantly deep into his stormy blue eyes. "I won't give him back to you, not until I feel like I got even with you and as things are looking, that is not going to happen any time soon. Maybe you should consider getting another pet, you know?"

His grip on her arm tightened and his jaw clenched hard. "No, no… that's not the way it's going to be…"

"It's going to be however I feel like it, or is it that you think that I'm going to let you get away with this? You kidnapped me, so be glad that I'm not putting you in jail for keeping me in your house against my will."

Ted smiled darkly and tilted his head to the side. "Yeah, and it would be your word against mine and let's face it, between the two of us, anyone with a little bit of sense in their brains will definitely believe me so let's not even go there. You are alone on this, you will always be alone in everything you do because the truth is that nobody can stand you."

At his words, Maryse's hand shoot up and landed hard against his face, leaving an angry red mark forming on his cheek. On his part, Ted's smile just got wider.

"Did I strike a nerve?"

"Get out or I swear you'll never see your stupid dog again." She made it to hit him once again, but this time Ted saw it coming and he blocked the impact and even managed to swirl her around until her back was pressed hard against him.

That way, he held her close. "How did you turn into such a conniving bitch? Look at you." He hissed angrily, grabbing her chin and lifting it up so that she could stare at her own reflection through the mirror. "You have everything you need to have it all; you have beauty, you have wits and you are a strong woman… and yet… you are so rotten deep within and that makes you damage goods."

Her jaw tensed up with his words but she forced herself to keep her eyes locked with his through the mirror. "You know nothing about me so don't speculate, I have everything I want to have and more."

"Do you really? Let's go back to the facts; I kept you in my house for weeks and no one but your brother seemed to miss you; you were fired from your job by a text message and nobody cared enough to reach you and check you out so think about it, do you really have it all?"

That got to her, it really did, but she would be damned if she let him know so forcing out a smile, she replied.

"I have everything I need; and as for me being damage goods? That's hardly accurate and you know it, I mean why make me believe I was your wife if not to take this so called damaged goods into your bed."

He snorted, shaking his head. "My intention was never to get you in my bed. You know I could have done it back in my house and in more than one occasion; but yet I didn't do it and you want to know why? Because I have principles and that makes me the better person between the two of us."

Maryse blinked, and wanting to hurt him where she knew it would hurt the most, she shook her head. "No, Ted… you didn't do it because you are not man enough to take what you want; do you think I don't know how bad you want me? Because I do, just as I know that you would rather sit in your high horse and pass judgment on me than do what you really want to do. So no, you are not a better person than me, you are just better at denying things."

"Oh don't try to give me that crap because your cheap psychology is not going to work on me."

Snorting, the blonde bit on her lips. She was getting to him, she knew it and she was not going to rest until he was at mad as she was felling. "Maybe you are the one who is damage goods; I mean does this even work?" She asked, reaching behind her and pressing her palm to his groin. "Hmmm, could that be the reason why your wife left you, because you didn't have the balls to keep her in your bed?"

Ted's face got a tad somber as he pushed the inside of his cheek with his tongue. For a while he said nothing, he just looked at her as if considering things and as he did that, Maryse made sure to keep her hand rubbing him fully into life.

"Yeah," He said at last. "And wouldn't you love to see how good it works? I mean that's what you have been looking forward, right?"

"Not really, I prefer a man who knows what to do with this."

As she said that, Maryse gave him a final squeeze and then she dropped her hand away from his already hard member and tried to move away from him, but before she could get too far, he grabbed her waist and made her back up against a wall while he pressed hard against her.

"Not so fast, I'm not done with you just yet." Grabbing her hands, he lifted them up and pinned them over her head and with the movement, she felt her robe sliding up her thighs.

Swallowing on dry, Maryse's eyes moved up to his darkening ones and she used her tongue to moisten her lips. "Of course you are not, but I am done with you so let me go."

"You know, we can do this all night long so let's save us both from a night full of bickering back and forth and tell me where he is."

Maryse shook her head. "I told you already, I forgot. It was a long journey and like I told you… I can't remember."

As she said that, one of his knees sneaked between her legs and she held her breath, waiting for a more intimate touch that never came. "And do you expect me to believe that?"

His voice as he said that was low, dark and alluring and she felt a liquid warm sensation settling on her lower stomach.

Now, Ted may never know it but a huge part of her anger came from the fact that she has never expected him to do what he did to her. Yeah, they never seemed to click when they were working together but she wasn't aware that he disliked her so much as to make such an elaborate plan against her.

And what was worse, she was angry because she believed him and even considered sleeping with him. She has done things to make him happy when she believed that he was her husband, from cooking his favorite food, to taking care of his dog and doing his laundry and it has all been a lie.

So yeah, deep inside she was feeling betrayed, but at the same time she was trying to wrestle against an attraction she has started to feel towards him. So right in that moment, the anger was at full swing, but with his closeness, his scent invading her nostrils and his erection pressing insistently against her hip, the attraction was also there and it was overwhelming.

"And do you really think that holding me here will make me tell you about Riggs any sooner?"

He shrugged, settling his hands on her hips. "Probably not."

Maryse lifted her head towards him, her eyes finding him looking into hers. "You are right, so if you ever want to see your precious dog again, you better take your hands off, now."

Ted hummed, but instead of moving his hands away, what he did was slide them down to her thighs before lifting them back up beneath the fabric of her bathrobe. That way he lifted it up to her waist, leaving her exposed down below.

"Are you going to tell me where he is or not?"

Goosebumps started to form all over her skin and the spot where he was touching her felt as if it was on fire. But she was nothing if not stubborn so she stood her ground. "No."

At her response, Ted settled himself in a position where his erection was pressing right into her core and Maryse had to bite down a gasp as he grabbed her hips to pull her closer.

What was going on and why wasn't she stopping him? He was stepping over the line.

"Tell me."

She shook her head no, holding strong into her resolution of keeping the dog's whereabouts a secret. But it was hard to keep a straight face when the roughness of his jeans rubbing against such a tender spot was alluring in a weird kind of way.

"Do you realize that I could have you right here, right now?" He asked, moving his face closer to her so that he could talk into her ear. "I would just have to unzip my pants and in a matter of nothing I would have you moaning my name as I fuck you right through that wall."

Maryse closed her eyes and opened her mouth but no word came out. What was she supposed to say anyway? That she would let him do it, that she wouldn't put on a fight if he decided to do as he was saying?

No, she would never tell him that…

"You would love that, wouldn't you?" He asked, pushing harder against her. That movement tore a gasp out of her and pulling his face back so that he could look at her, he smiled. "The bad news for you is that it won't happen, and not because I'm not man enough to do it, but because I don't want it. I don't want you, Maryse, you can fool my body into believing I do but I really don't. Now hurry up and get dressed so that we can go and find my dog; I'll be waiting outside."

As he said that, Ted Dibiase Jr. turned on her and walked out. He even closed the door on her on his way out and that made her blood boil in anger.

Grunting, Maryse grabbed the first thing that her hands found and threw it against the door.

How did she lose her ground so quickly? How did she let him get the upper hand on her once again?

"Ugh, I hate you, Ted." She said through clenched teeth, "I hate you."


End file.
